Resolution

I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions but I’d like to suggest one that will make all of our holiday parties a bit richer.

Don’t pull out your Iphone, Ipad, Droid in the middle of a conversation. Leave your smart phone in your pocket when discussions get going. I know you can settle any question with just a quick internet search. Google is your god. All the answers are out there to be found. I get it.

The problem with facts is that are a conversation killer. Truth does not always set you free. In fact, when it comes to a friendly discussion, it can imprison you.

Nothing is as boring as facts. Remember World History? Remember the date 1066? Me, too. Beyond that I couldn’t tell you. Everything I learned about how the world works came after school when I turned to fiction to find out the motivations and reasons behind the big battles and wars.

Facts are not immutable. They change. When I was in high school, there were only 98 elements on the Periodic Table. Now there are a lot more. (I could tell you the exact amount but you can google that fact if you’re interested.)

Facts kill speculation and that’s what the best conversations are. You speak from your experience, I relay mine. Nothing as hard-core as a fact need enter into it. If want to know exactly the year Alcatraz closed, I can look that up. But if our conversation starts with wondering about Alcatraz closing, it may end up in stories about the sixties or tales about your second cousin that went to jail for making moonshine. Far more interesting than knowing the day Alcatraz tossed out the remaining inmates and shut down.

So please leave the Ipad at home when you’re attending a party (or at least the ones I’m at). Let’s wonder and speculate and be inaccurate. It’s way more fun.

How about you? Will you join me in the resolution?